A popular transporter for work stations utilizes an elongated belt that moves at a continuous high rate of speed for moving article or baskets of articles from an end of the belt to an appropriate work station. When that particular work station has completed its operation on the article or articles, they are returned to the front of the system belt and transported to a different work station for the next succeeding operation to be performed on them. The articles are placed on the belt at each work station and removed from the belt at a succeeding work stations by arms that extends across the belt to divert the article.
As was disclosed in the related application referenced above, certain improvements were made to the above-described transporter system. Among these improvements was the configuration of the diverter arm to extend at an angle in excess of 45.degree. to the direction of travel of the moving belt. Further, the diverting arm was fabricated as a sweep arm structure having first and second substantially straight arms joined together orthogonally at a vertex. By providing the improved angular relationship between the sweep arm and the direction of travel of the articles to be diverted and by providing the orthogonal construction, it was determined that an article could be removed from a traveling belt and fed to various work stations while (1) maintaining the orientation of the article and (2) accurately placing the article onto a work station in a predetermined and preselected position with an accuracy much greater than prior art devices.
The above-described transporter system, although representing a marked improvement over similar devices of the prior art nevertheless could not be used as a means of feeding a robotic station. The transporter device of U.S. application Ser. No. 291,497 can effectuate the removal of a work piece from a moving belt and position it without change in orientation, onto a work station or second moving belt with a projected accuracy of .+-.1/8 inch. A robotic arm, however, which has been programmed to travel in a predetermined arc requires the positioning of work pieces within several thousandths of an inch.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a transporter device for use with a robotic arm whereby work pieces are capable of being precisely and rigidly positioned for engagement by the robotic device.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a robot assembly station for use with a programmable distribution system which eliminates virtually all of the shortcomings of the prior art.